Fradley

Today's Canals : Trent and Mersey, Coventry

Another fine day! The first photo is of our overnight mooring right in the centre of Rugeley. To the left is private housing - mostly little boxes - whilst to the right is an industrial estate with Screwfix almost the other side of the hedge.

The canal skirts the edge of the town and almost at the end is this bridge, built on the skew so that boats from either direction have very little chance to spot an oncoming boat until the last moment. Although we later had several crash stops on bind corners but this one was all clear. Just beyond the bridge (actually where the camera position is) we stopped to fill up with water - Christine put the washing machine on even before it was full.

Next came the so-called Armitage Tunnel. When the canal was built there was indeed a narrow tunnel cut through the rock, but not very deep below the surface. In recent times the roof was removed and the tunnel opened out, save for a wide bridge at the eastern end. We believe that this was the result of subsidence, a reminder (since nature and developers have all but removed all other signs) that this was once an important and successful mining area.

However, we were amused that whoever was tasked with specifying the Blue Signs at either end had probably only heard the name and so included all the warnings and information for a real tunnel! (Sorry it is rather fuzzy as the sign was rather far away - also makes the point that most of the info is too small and missed by passing boaters for the same reason)

Armitage Shanks factory making sanitary ware seem to have reorganise their outdoor storage arrangements and we caught only the smallest glimpse of the stockpiles that used to be next to the canal and good for a classic photo!

We were a bit puzzled by this security camera on the top of the main works building - from several angles it seemed that it was pointing into the wall? Perhaps they have previously been attacked by Spider Men.

For most of the time since Etruria we have been close to the loop line through Stone and Stoke but now we have swapped that for the proper West Coast Main Line, with its four tracks and a mix of freight and passenger traffic.

We called at Kings Bromley Marina to fill with diesel - we were getting a little low and Streethay (where we hoped to call) is closed tomorrow. We were required to reverse onto the fuel berth, not the easiest in an unfamiliar marina and a stiff breeze as well as having to wait for a few minutes as both berths were occupied when we arrived. But after an extended hover we found ourselves in just the right position, having looked carefully at the wind direction, to come in smoothly. The staff, both on the fuel berth and in the office were very friendly and helpful. However, all this concentration meant that we forgot about photos!

By complete contrast, a short distance away is Bromley Marina - a bit different. Alas, its neighbour has now taken all the trade for diesel etc.

We moored just above the first lock of the day - Wood End Lock. The fencing has been erected since ewe last came by - the other side was to have been part of HS2, that included the most oft quoted feature of a viaduct crossing the canal.

The cottage was compulsorily acquired and the occupants moved elsewhere. Now that the last government cancelled the northern phase, all of this is either in limbo or redundant, depending on your view of what should be done. On the local scale this means that the small niche in the bridge just below the lock is now empty - no more does it display bright teapots!

And just glimpsed through the vegetation, some of which was planted as part of the overall scheme, is the HS2 graveyard, or part of it.

Not really fans of boat designs with bar stools or seats, especially when not visually integrated with the overall shape. However, we could not help buy have a smile at these toadstools!

And so to today's last lock, just before Fradley Junction where we turned right onto the Coventry Canal.

The classic view of The Swan is really best from the stern of a boat just after the turn - it only lasts this way for a fleeting moment!

Immediately after the turn is a small swing footbridge. This really has to be the easiest swing bridge on the whole system, even a toddler (or an octogenarian) can manage it.

The final stretch before the village of Fradley is alongside the former RAF Lichfield which was built for the last war and decommissioned not long after. For several decades the left over hangars and new builds have used part of the large area as a distribution centre, but now a huge new housing estate is growing up. It is across the canal from the old village and it will be interesting to see whether the two, perhaps quite distinctive, communities rub along together! The Neighbourhood Plan envisages around 2000 new homes since the turn of the millennium.

Our target for today was to moor just after Bridge 90, the original route in to the village. We intend to walk into the village tomorrow morning - report in the next blog (perhaps!) There was just one full space which we gladly slipped into.

9.5 Miles - 3 Locks